1883.] 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



29 



EPIPHYLLUMS. 



The two species of Crab's Claw Cactus 

 Epiphyllum Bwselliamtm and E. truncatum, 

 the hybrids of which ornament our green- 

 houses during winter with their exquisitely 

 colored and strangely shaped flowers, are 

 natives of Brazil, where they are found 

 growing upon the trunks and branches of 

 trees. They are of the easiest culture, 

 blooming abundantly even when small, and 

 adapted as well for the window-garden as 

 the greenhouse. Grafted on the Pereskia 

 stock, with stems from eight to twelve 

 inches high, they make beautiful objects; 

 but much more lovely are they when grown 

 on their own roots and in a basket. They 

 do not want anything else in the basket 

 with them, but show their beauty best when 

 planted alone, the long, fringy flowers be- 

 ing just the kind most suitable for adorning 

 the flat, leaf-like branches, and which 

 are set off to best advantage when 

 drooping over the edges of the basket. 



The soil most suitable for them is 

 good, turfy loam, having about one- 

 fourth of thoroughly decayed manure 

 or leaf-mold, well mixed, and suffi- 

 cient sand to give porosity to the 

 whole, as it is imperative to allow 

 the water to pass off freely, anything 

 approaching sourness of the soil from 

 too much water being detrimental to 

 the plant's growth. When the plants 

 get large enough to be put in five- 

 inch pots and over, they should have 

 plenty of drainage. 



Cuttings should be taken off just 

 before the plants begin to grow, and 

 inserted in the cutting-bench, where 

 they can get a good, sharp, bottom 

 heat ; when rooted, put into small 

 pots and place near the light. As 

 they increase in size, put into larger 

 pots, and keep growing by giving 

 plenty of water, pinching the points 

 out of any shoots which may be 

 taking the lead. About the month 

 of June set out of doors in a sunny 

 position, and when their growth is 

 completed, withhold water gradually, 

 but not sufficient to cause them to 

 wilt. If wanted to flower in succes- 5=5 

 sion, and a good many plants are on -~[ 

 hand when housed in the fall, keep 

 part of them in a cool house, and 

 bring into heat as required : but do 

 not water much those kept in a cool 

 house, as they are apt to lose their 

 roots from rot, especially if growing on their 

 own roots. Grown on the Pereskia, they 

 are more hardy, and capable of enduring 

 greater hardships than on their own roots. 

 They can be grafted on some of the Cereus 

 family, but the Pereskia is the best stock 

 for their successful culture. The number of 

 flowers a single plant sometimes produces, 

 when well treated, is astonishing. I counted, 

 to-day, the flowers on a plant growing in a 

 six-inch pot, and the number was seventy- 

 six. The flowers are very useful in the 

 arranging of bouquets and baskets, lasting a 

 good while in perfection after being cut. 



The following are some of the best and 

 most distinct kinds in cultivation 



E. BusseTMamm. — This species flowers 

 later in the season than truncatum, and has 

 flowers of somewhat different shape. There 

 are some varieties of this species distinct 



and superior, the most conspicuous being 

 rubrum, having large, bright red flowers. 



E. truncatum has large, rose-colored flow- 

 ers, and blooms earlier in the season than 

 the preceding species. Seedlings from this, 

 and also hybrids between this and Bussellia- 

 num, are numerous, some of them of the most 

 I delicate colors. Among them are bicolor 

 white edged with rose, fine ; Ruckerlanum, 

 dark red, violet center ; and violaceum, pure 

 white, purple edges. 



This class of plants deserves better treat- 

 ment than is generally given to it ; although, 

 for all the neglect and inattention the plaiits 

 receive during summer, they will often bloom 

 during winter. They repay good treatment 

 as well as any plants, and it is during the 

 period when they are least attractive that 

 they prepare for flowering, and should have 

 the most attention. 



Manskikld Milton. 



ECHINOCACTUS VISNAGA. 



ECBTNOCACTUS. 



This is another genus of the interesting 

 Cactus family, well adapted for house culture. 

 Eehinocactus visnaga, the Toothpick Cactus, 

 represented in the annexed illustration, re- 

 produced from the London Garden, is one 

 of the noblest species of this beautiful 

 genus, and requires only to be seen to be 

 admired. Its flowers, which are produced 

 in profusion on the woolly apex, are straw- 

 colored, their base being densely clothed 



I with wool. The spines, which are in sets of 

 from eight to ten, are very strong, over an 



j inch long, flat and ribbed, and make very 

 good and perfectly harmless toothpicks. 



| All Echinocactuses should have a soil con- 

 sisting of equal parts of rich loam, thoroughly 

 decomposed manure, and sand. During 

 winter they should be kept in a moderate 

 temperature, in a light window or cool 



greenhouse, giving them little or no water. 

 In summer, however, when they grow and 

 flower, they require high temperature and 

 a liberal supply of water. Bright sunlight is 

 essential to their vigor at all seasons, but 

 especially so in autumn and winter. 



WATERING PLANTS, 



Carelessness or imprudence in the water- 

 ing of plants in winter is the principal cause 

 of the too common saying, "I cannot make 

 plants grow in the house." The same is too 

 often the case in the greenhouse, where 

 plants are bedded out ; in this case the gar- 

 dener is not entitled to any sympathy, for he 

 ought to know the plants' requirements suf- 

 ficiently well to guard against errors in that 

 direction. Not so with the amateur, who 

 grows only a few plants in pots, for the real 

 pleasure they afford. He cannot af- 

 ford to lose his plants, and is, more- 

 over, willing fynd anxious to avail 

 himself of the benefit of others' suc- 

 cesses and failures. In this work 

 nature teaches us a beautiful lesson, 

 showing us that all plants are not 

 alike in their manner of receiving 

 moisture. Grass and the common 

 herbs of the field are indiscriminately 

 showered overhead by the rains, but 

 the water that falls upon the trees is 

 warded off as far as the branches 

 extend, and falls, not at the base of 

 the stem, but where the rootlets 

 exist — precisely where it is required. 



It is most injurious to any kind of 

 plant to water it, time after time, 

 right on its crown, or to direct a 

 stream of water against its stem, 

 thus laying bare the roots and mak- 

 ing a hole in the middle of the soil 

 in the pot, just at the stem. If we 

 notice the position of any permanent 

 plant, as a tree or a shrub, growing in 

 the field, wood or garden , we will find 

 that the stem rises from the ground 

 on a little hill rather than from a 

 basin-shaped hollow. 



After plants are freshly potted, and 

 in the case of seeds and young cut- 

 tings, water should be applied evenly 

 over the whole surface of the soil, 

 through a fine rose ; but when the 

 soil becomes compact, and the plant 

 has acquired strength, water may be 

 applied more liberally, and then 

 always around the edge, instead of 

 the middle of the pot. 



Do not water a plant till it needs it, then 

 do it thoroughly ; fill the pot to the brim, and, 

 if that is insufficient to moisten the whole 

 hall of earth, give more. If the plant is 

 somewhat moist, but not enough so to do 

 without water until the next watering time, 

 then give it a less quantity than you would a 

 dry plant. Dribbling, or, in other words, 

 giving a few drops every day to every plant, 

 is miserable practice, by which wet plants 

 are made wetter, and dry ones don't get 

 enough. 



Apply manure-water to strong, vigorous, 

 rapid-growing plants, as you would strong 

 food to a hard-working man — they can stand _ 

 it; but poor, dyspeptic plants cannot digest 

 strong food, and require a light diet ; let all 

 such plants beg until they go to work, before 

 you feed them heartily. Linnaeus. 



